A couple were so desperate for a baby that they smuggled an African child into the UK and claimed he was their own.
Raymonde Miessan, 39, pretended she had given birth to the little boy overseas. She and her husband Kacou are now in prison, and the baby, Matys, is in care.
Raymonde told the authorities that she given birth to Matys in her native Sierra Leone after spending several months there last year. When challenged by officials she and her husband admitted the little boy was not theirs, but that they had rescued him from a rubbish bin.
Canterbury Crown Court heard that the couple had tried desperately for a baby for 13 years and had undergone unsuccessful attempts at IVF.
They registered Matys birth in Sierra Leone, and got him a passport before returning to the UK to begin life as a family in Ashford, Kent.
After falling out with a member of their family, the authorities were informed that the little boy had been brought into the UK illegally and he was taken from the Miessan's.
Mrs Miessan told police officers that her mum had found the baby in a bin on the streets of Sierra Leone with his umbilical cord still attached and given him to her.
She said they simply wanted to save him and give him a 'good life'.
The court jailed the couple for a year after they admitted bringing the baby into the UK using fake documents.
Their solicitor Christopher Harding said they had acted out of 'desperation' because of their failed attempts at IVF.
Mrs Miessan had told the authorities that she was 'sorry' they hadn't followed the rules.
"We intended to give something good back by giving Matys a good life," she said.
She went on to tell the police that, if she could have, she would have tried to 'save' more abandoned children by smuggling them into the UK.
Her husband Kacou told the court that the little boy meant everything to them.
"I wanted the best for him," he said, "We didn't do this to harm Matys, to do something wrong. It is true we didn't do it the right way but we didn't want to deceive anyone. For us it was Matys, it's not like we did it for some kind of return, to claim some benefits."
Matys is to be put up for adoption.